A DUI (in the past) can even make Donald Trump say " You're Fired"!

In case there was any doubt that a DUI can impact you even once the case is over, you need look no further than the humiliating dismissal suffered by Khloe Kardashian on this week's episode of Celebrity Apprentice.  I have posted about the costs of a DUI, but nothing seems so strikingly illustrative of it as being kicked off of reality tv for a past DUI.

Even Khloe seemed shocked:

April 6th

Hello my loves!  So as I'm sure you've all heard, The Donald fired me off ofCelebrity Apprentice last night.  It wasn't because of my work ethic, it wasn't because I was slacking -- it was because of my DUI, one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made that I will forever regret.  I will NEVER say that what I did was right, but I think it is completely unrelated to my place on the show and I don't think I should have been fired for that reason alone. I have tried to bring awareness to how serious DUI's are and I am trying to make some right out of my huge mistake.  

Kardashian's arrest and subsequent jail sentence was well publicized.  In fact, the DUI arrest itself was recreated on her family's reality TV show.  I don't know how the Donald missed that.  Still it is his show.

Once you finish paying off your debt to society, for a DUI, even if you are a celebrity, you get to keep on paying that debt over and over whenever someone wants you to.

LA Pitcher Nick Adenhart killed in auto accident by a DUI driver

Tragedy has struck for a budding young star for the LA Angels.  Nick Adenhart was killed in an auto accident after his best game.

April 10, Los Angeles, CA

For a young pitcher who struggled for years with an injured arm and doubts that he could cut it in big league baseball, Nick Adenhart's performance Wednesday night gave promise that he had finally arrived.

But a few hours after the most impressive game of his brief career -- just seven miles from the mound where he threw six scoreless innings -- the 22-year-old right-hander was killed by an alleged drunk driver, the latest calamity in a baseball franchise haunted by a history of misfortunes.

Adenhart and two friends were killed early Thursday morning when their car was broadsided by a driver who police said had a suspended license and a previous drunk driving conviction. 

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said Adenhart had struggled to reach the major league mound. "He just wasn't some extreme talent that was blessed," Scioscia said. "He fought to be here."

The Adenhart accident is the latest in a string of Angels tragedies. In the 1970s, infielders Chico Ruiz and Mike Miley and pitcher Bruce Heinbechner were killed in separate auto accidents, pitcher Minnie Rojas and catcher Ed Kirkpatrick were paralyzed in car crashes and outfielder Lyman Bostock was killed in a drive-by shooting while riding in a car with friends in Gary, Ind.

And last season, special assistant Preston Gomez was gravely injured when he was hit by a truck at a gas station on his way back from spring training. Gomez never recovered, dying in January at a Fullerton care center -- not far from the scene of the accident that killed Adenhart.

Assuming, the allegations turn out to be true against the driver, it is indeed a sad day for not only this young man, his teammates, but for so many others who see themselves in Adenhart's tale of perserverance and hard work paying off.

In this tragedy, there is an allegation of DUI, but if you read closely, you can see the individual charged was driving on a suspended license.  In Illinois, the charge of driving while your license is suspended is just as serious as a DUI.  As a misdemeanor, it is in the same class of crimes as a DUI and upon a finding of guilt carries the same maximum penalty as a DUI! In fact, as I tell my clients, the crime is not driving poorly but driving at all. 

Here in Chicago, my husband, frequently paraphrases Plato and Vaclav Havel at times like this, "Good men do not need laws, and bad men will always find away around them."  

Chicago DUI can lead to debtor's prison, or worse

As I posted before a Chicago DUI can cost over $2,500.00 in court fees and fines. That does not include the required fees associated with a BAIID device, license reinstatement, alcohol counseling, or drug testing that are frequently ordered in first-time Chicago DUI offender pleas of guilty or findings of guilty. The New York Times included an editorial on the creation of debtors' prisons. The debt in question is usually one owed to the prison, not to a creditor.

April 6, New York, NY

Edwina Nowlin, a poor Michigan resident, was ordered to reimburse a juvenile detention center $104 a month for holding her 16-year-old son. When she explained to the court that she could not afford to pay, Ms. Nowlin was sent to prison. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, which helped get her out last week after she spent 28 days behind bars, says it is seeing more people being sent to jail because they cannot make various court-ordered payments. That is both barbaric and unconstitutional.

In 1970, the Supreme Court ruled that it violates equal protection to keep inmates in prison extra time because they are too poor to pay a fine or court costs. More recently, the court ruled that a state generally cannot revoke a defendant’s probation and imprison him for failing to pay a fine if he is unable to do so.

So you are wondering if Chicago is as ridiculous as Michigan was with Ms. Nowlin? Well, they don't generally put you in jail, but they will revoke court supervision. In Illinois, if you lose court supervision, your driving privileges are revoked. Even if you subsequently pay the court fees, you may not get your license back.

What do you think we should do in Chicago, during these difficult economic times when people are unable to pay their court fines and fees, do we take away their driving privileges?

Subpoenas for Chicago DUI 911 tapes and other calls just shoved into a drawer

Taxpayers should be outraged.  It reminds me of the old stories of the mail carriers who used to stash undelivered mail. I have certainly noticed a slower response to my issuance of subpoenas for Chicago DUI arrest recordings to the Office of Emergency Management.  I guess now I know why.  

April 7, 2009 Chicago, Il

An employee at Chicago's 911 emergency center has been disciplined after four months worth of unprocessed subpoenas for 911 tapes were found stashed in her office drawer.

The targeted employee was assigned to process subpoenas received by the 911 center's tape review section.

Subpoenas for copies of 911 tapes are issued primarily when attorneys are attempting to prove that police, fire or emergency medical response was slow or otherwise inadequate. Prompt processing of subpoenas is essential because tapes are only stored for 60 days. If the demand for records is not granted within that time, tapes are erased and recycled.

Sources said the unprocessed subpoenas, discovered while the employee was on vacation, were more than 90 days old and some were more than 120 days old.

So, do I just give the judges and my clients the newspaper to explain why the State has delayed my clients their opportunity for justice?

Chicagoland DUI roadblocks are a bust-- only 3 arrested during Kane County's "no refusal" weekend

I am glad to report that only three people were arrested for Chicagoland DUI 's the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day in Kane County's roadblocks.  I get the impression they are a bit disappointed with the numbers.

March 27, St. Charles, Il

A drunken-driving crackdown this month in Kane County resulted in fewer arrest than in 2008, and authorities said better planning by holiday revelers may have played a part.

Kane County State's Atty. John Barsanti said the number reflects, in part, a smaller enforcement area. One municipality participated, compared with three last year. 

"It seems that St. Patrick's Day revelers made a conscious and wise decision to not drive if they were drinking alcohol," Barsanti said in a statement. "It was evident that we had lots of activity in the bars, but without impaired drivers getting behind the wheel to get home," said St. Charles Police Chief James Lamkin. 

Perhaps the decreased number of participating municipalities is reflective of what we already know, roadblocks do not prevent DUIs.  What do you think?

A few bad Chicago DUI cops spoil everything

I was talking to a prosecutor the other day who was handling a post-conviction relief matter related to a defendant's arrest by former Chicago Top DUI Cop John Haleas, and he teased me about being a conspiracy theorist based on my defense of folks charged with a DUI.

I assured him that I had experienced my own realization long before the current scandals that Chicago Police officers don't always tell the truth.  You see, I used to be a prosecutor for the City of Chicago.  I came to  the world of defense believing that most police officers were doing the best they could and they were honest.  I still hold the belief that the police are supposed to rise above many things that everyday citizens would not, including name-calling, but that is another matter.  I had a case a few years ago with a highly respected Chicago Top DUI cop.  In that case, I had advised my client that his police officer was well-regarded in court and testified well so that we had our work cut out for us if we were going to beat his Chicago DUI charges.  It was important to my client because he held a job, as a civilian working for the Chicago Police Department and he assured me that he was not drunk when he was charged with the DUI by the Chicago Top DUI cop.

As I reviewed the Chicago Top DUI cop's police reports for my client, something immediately jumped out at me.  I recognized the location of the stop; several years earlier I lived in the area where my client was arrested.  I found it odd because the Chicago Top DUI cop mentioned arresting my client for running a stop sign...that I knew did not exist.  I immediately drove over to my old neighborhood because I thought perhaps there might now be a stop sign.  There was no stop sign there.  In fact there was no stop sign or stop/light within three blocks of the arrest location. It was immediately clear to me that this Chicago Top DUI cop had fabricated details in his arrest report. As I have said on more than one occasion, this is Chicago, there is more than enough real crime.  Chicago police officers do not have to make up charges against anyone.  

I went to trial, complete with photos of the area, and my client was found not guilty of all charges.  This one case did shake my core belief that Top Chicago DUI cops were above making up charges against folks.  Time, and time, and time again I find my belief in the trustworthiness of Chicago DUI cops continues to be shaken.

Chicago DUI lawyer cannot help you if you don't tell her everything

If you want the best result for your DUI case, you must be totally honest and forthcoming with your lawyer.  It is your lawyer's job to plan the best strategy in your case to get you the best possible outcome. It is your responsibility to provide your lawyer with all the information necessary to put on the best Chicago DUI defense for you. What you don't tell your lawyer can, and likely will, hurt you.

March 4, Des Moines, IA

Top 10 Ways to Get Fired by Your Lawyer

 

#1 - Lie to your lawyer. This is the number one thing you can do to get your lawyer to fire you. Your lawyer is your representative. Every case has its warts. Your lawyer can only help you if he or she knows the whole story. If you lie to your attorney, or fail to disclose pertinent information, by the time the lawyer finds out from the other side, it is often too late

.

I recently had a client who was charged with a DUI tell me he was the only person in the car when he was charged with a DUI. (This is generally not a position of strength because it becomes the client's word against the police officers, although I have won cases where my client's testimony is the only testimony aside from the police officer's.) He subsequently overheard another lawyer conferring with me on a different case.  Once he realized that the lawyer was able to get the DUI charges dismissed because the state was unable to tell who was driving, my client suddenly revealed new information to me.  His family member had been in the vehicle at the time of the accident which led to the arrest... and his family member was the driver!  What my client thought was an unimportant peice of information was an essential piEce of my strategy to get the charges dismissed.  In his case, unlike many other criminal matters, the prosecutor would almost certainly not attempt to try his relative because they had no evidence to suggest his relative was under the influence of alcohol, even if that was in fact the case.

If you do not believe you can tell your Chicago DUI lawyer the truth, then I strongly suggest that you discharge him or her, and find a different lawyer with whom you feel comfortable being completely forthcoming.  The stakes are simply too high for your lawyer to be underinformed or misinformed.